What started as a hobby four years ago has turned into a career for a local chocolatier who learned the ins and outs of her trade from the inside of her kitchen.
Stacy Peters opened O’Chocolate, 5 N. Court St., with hopes of expanding the “fine chocolate” palates of college students and chocolate lovers alike.
After receiving positive feedback from her friends and family, Peters decided to distribute her desserts through the Athens Farmers Market and the Village Bakery & Cafe in September 2010.
“I knew that I liked desserts in small amounts and that I liked chocolate,” Peters said. “So I started working with chocolate, testing recipes and self-taught myself how to temper it all.”
Tucked near the front window of a shopping plaza on Court Street, the O’Chocolate store doesn’t inhabit much space. But because Peters creates the chocolate at home, the small size suits her budget.
“When the property owner approached me about this space, I realized the great opportunity that it created,” Peters said. “I get to be on Court Street and I don’t have to pay $3,000 to rent a place.”
O’Chocolate specializes in handcrafted truffles which sell for $1.50, but also offers homemade chocolate bars for $5 and bark, which is sold by the pound.
Peters decided to make these bite-size treats because of her appreciation of enjoying sweets in small portions.
“I have never had a huge sweet tooth,” Peters said. “Even as a kid, I never wanted icing on my cake. Truffles are really ideal because they match who I am.”
O’Chocolate’s products incorporate Athens ingredients and use fair trade chocolate from South America — a system that prohibits child labor, pays appropriate wages to farmers and abides by just working conditions, Peters said.
“I knew that I would always make the commitment to use fair trade chocolate,” Peters said. “Knowing that my dollar was going to make (the workers’) worlds better.”
The relationships Peters formed while selling at the Athens Farmers Market has allowed her to use local companies’ and farmers’ ingredients in her chocolates, such as Sticky Pete’s Maple Syrup, Silverbridge Coffee, wine from BellaVino and locally grown amaranth from Shagbark Seed & Mill Co.
“I believe in the Athens community and the food system that’s happening here,” Peters said. “I try to find local ingredients and design a truffle or a bar around it just because that local ingredient is found and made here.”
Morgan Messenheimer, an Ohio University sophomore studying video production and a self-proclaimed “chocoholic,” is thrilled to have a new spot in town to satisfy her sweet tooth.
“Athens does have Whit’s ice cream but that doesn’t satisfy the true chocolate lover,” Messenheimer said. “I feel like this new place will fill the chocolate void.”
sl642509@ohiou.edu
